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Writing code is cheap now

simonwillison.net

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Re: Writing code is cheap now

#71

Post by simonw »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #15

I'm going to shill my own writing here [1] but I think it addresses this post in a different way. Because we can now write code so much faster and quicker, everything downstream from that is just not ready for it. Right now we might have to slow down, but medium and long term we need to figure out how to build systems in a way that it can keep up with this increased influx of code. > The challenge is to develop new p…

Totally agree - that's what I was trying to get at with "organizational habits". The way we plan, organize and deliver software projects is going to radically change.

I'm not ready to write about how radically though because I don't know myself!

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#72

Post by toomuchtodo »

arijun wrote: post #34
fmbb wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raising $100M doesn’t even mean you have a good idea or an idea people like or an idea you can even make money on.

It’s probably a better indicator of a good business idea than if you get slapped in the face…

A raise is random noise, not signal, based a confidence game within the VC ecosystem. LP capital call->GP gamble based on waves arms around considering VC underperforms as an asset [1] [2] class even when accounting for the grand slam returns. It's 0DTE options gambling dressed up as skill and an art. But, you know [3] [4] [5], lottery still pays out sometimes.

TLDR A raise is not robust signal in this regard.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7260137

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peterjameswalker_most-venture...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_...

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overconfidence_effect

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#74

Post by simonw »

fmbb wrote: post #39
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #15

I'm going to shill my own writing here [1] but I think it addresses this post in a different way. Because we can now write code so much faster and quicker, everything downstream from that is just not ready for it. Right now we might have to slow down, but medium and long term we need to figure out how to build systems in a way that it can keep up with this increased influx of code. > The challenge is to develop new p…

I don’t think we can expect all workers at all companies to just adopt a new way of working. That’s not how competition works. If agentic AI is a good idea and if it increases productivity we should expect to see some startup blowing everyone out of the water. I think we should be seeing it now if it makes you say ten times more productive. A lot of startups have had a year of agentic AI now to help them beat their c…

OpenClaw went from first commit in late November to Super Bowl commercial (it's meant to be the tech behind that AI.com vaporware thing) in February.

(Whether you think OpenClaw is good software is kind of beside the point.)

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#75

Post by simonw »

coldtea wrote: post #57
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we want to continue to ship at that speed we will have to. I’m not sure if we should, but seemingly we are. And it causes a lot of problems right now downstream.

We were already rushing and churning products and code of inferior quality before AI (let's e.g. consider the sorry state of macOS and Windows in the past decade). Using AI to ship more and more code faster, instead of to make code more mature, will make this worse.

I want to use AI to ship more and more code faster and better. If AI means our product quality goes down we should figure out better ways to use it.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#77

Post by stackghost »

ok123456 wrote: post #42
stackghost wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed: The act of actually typing the code into an editor was never the hard or valuable part of software engineering. The value comes from being able to design applications that work well, with reasonable performance and security properties.

Then why did most software fail to do that even before the advent of LLMs?

Because coding bootcamps and CS programs were churning out squillions of people who could type the code but had poor design and analytical skills, because there was a time where being able to implement Dijkstra on a whiteboard would get you 400k at a FAANG.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#78

Post by torginus »

I think there's a good parallel with AI images - generating pictures has gotten ridiculously easy and simple, yet producing art that is meaningful or wanted by anyone has gotten only mildly easier.

Despire the explosion of AI art, the amount of meaningful art in the world is increased only by a tiny amount.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#79

Post by sjaiisba »

ej88 wrote: post #58
fmbb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think we can expect all workers at all companies to just adopt a new way of working. That’s not how competition works. If agentic AI is a good idea and if it increases productivity we should expect to see some startup blowing everyone out of the water. I think we should be seeing it now if it makes you say ten times more productive. A lot of startups have had a year of agentic AI now to help them beat their c…

We're already seeing eye-watering, blistering growth from the new hot applied AI startups and labs Imo the wave of top down 'AI mandates' from incumbent companies is a direct result of the competitive pressure, although it probably wont work as well as the execs think it will that being said even Dario claims a 5-20% speedup from coding agents, 10x productivity only exists in microcosm prototypes, or if someone was s…

AI has been a lifesaver for my low performing coworkers. They’re still heavily reliant on reviews, but their output is up. One of the lowest output guys I ever worked with is a massive LinkedIn LLM promoter.

Not sure how long it’ll last though. With the time I spend on reviews I could have done it myself, so if they don’t start learning…

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#80

Post by simonw »

For everyone who is responding to the "Writing code is cheap now" heading without reading the article, I'd encourage you to scroll down to the "Good code still has a cost" section.
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